Railway-crossing signal



Mar. 3, 1925. I, 1,528,240,

1. H. BENDER I RAILWAY CROSSING SIGNAL 2 Sheets-Sheet 1- Mar. 3, 1925.

J. H. BENDER I RAILWAY CROSSING SIGNAL Filed May 6- 1924 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 71/11/1/1/11/1/ v y v:- d

A; 41/566 er 5 v zlwumto'o Patented Mar. 3, 1925.

1,528,240 PATENT OFFICE.

,JULIITS I-I. nnnnnn, or rnReUsrALLs, MINNESOTA.

RAILWAY-CROSSING SIGNAL;

Application filed May 6,

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JULrUs H. Bnnnnn,

a citizen of the United States, residing at Fergus Falls, in the county of Otter Tall and State of Minnesota, have invented certain new and useful-Improvements in Railway-Crossing Signals, of which the follow ing is a specification.

This invention relates to an improved railway crossing signal and seeks, among other ob ects,

character wherein, upon the approach ofra train, the signal will be mechanically actuated for warning traffic at the crossing,- of such approach.

The invention seeks, I to provide a signal which W111 be positive in its operation and so constructed that the signal will not be easily subject to failure. And the invention seeks, as a still further object, to provide a signal which will be self-setting and which will function regardless of whether a train is approaching the crossing from one direction or the other.

Other and incidental objects will appear v hereinafter.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a plan View of my improved signal,

Figure 2 is a vertical sectional view on the line 2-2 of Figure 1, looking in the direction of the arrows,

Figure 3 is a sectional view on the line 3-3 of Figure 1, looking in the direction of the arrows,

Figure 4 is an elevation of one of the signal wheels, and

Figure 5 is an enlarged sectional view on the line 55 of Figure 2, looking in the direction of the arrows.

In carrying the invention into effect, I employ a hollow casing or base 10 of suitable sheet metal which, as shown in Figure 1, is erected adjacent the railway track near a crossing. The base is preferably of considerable height so that the signal will be readily visible to the traffic and mounted upon the base at its upper end are spaced upstanding bearings 11 journaling a signal shaft 12 removably retained by bearing caps 13 bolted or otherwise secured to the bearings. Mounted upon the shaft 12 at the ends thereof are signal wheels 14 which, as shown in Figure 4, are each provided with a plurality of blades 15 which may be colored or otherwise rendered conspicuous to provide a device of this as a further object,

1924. Serial No. 711,447.

for attracting the attention of the traffic. Fixed upon the shaft 12 between the bearings 11 is a drum 16 cut away at its ends, as shown in detail in Figure 5, to form annular raceways while the end edges of the drum are, as best brought out in Figure 1, each formed with a series of circumferentially spaced notches 18. Surrounding the ends of the drum are pawl rings 19 rotatably fitting in the raceways 17 and pivotally mounted upon each of said rings is a series of spring pressed pawls 20 engageable in the notches 18. At their outersides, the rings 19 are formed with recesses 21 into which the pawls may swing to inactive position and overlying the rings are stra s indicated for convenience at 22 and 23, tie

straps being detachably secured to the rings as at 24. The straps extend through suitable slots in the top wall of the base 10 and connected to corresponding ends of the straps are retractmg springs 25 anchored within the base. 7

- Arranged at suitable distances along the 'trackat opposlte sides of the crossing are trip boxes 26 in which are journaled verticallydisposed shafts 27 and fixed to said shafts are levers 28 to which are pivotally connected trip rods 29 slidably received through the forward side walls of the boxes to project toward the track and provided at their "outer ends with rollers. the shafts 27 below the levers 28 are levers 30 freely received through suitable slots in the rear sidewalls of the boxes andassociatedwithsaid levers are springs 31 for counter-rotating the shafts 27 and returning 1 the levers when swung. 5 Mounted within the base 10 are brackets 32 upon which are pivoted bell cranks 33 and connecting the bell cranks with the straps 22 and 23 are links 34 while cables 35 are employed to connect the bell cranks with the levers 30.

In conjunction with the trip rods 29, I provide, as shown in Figure 1, trip members 36 which are bolted or otherwise secured to a locomotive, car, or other rolling stock traveling over the track. A pair of the trip members are, as suggested, arranged at opposite sides of the locomotive, so that when the locomotive is traveling in one direction, one of the members wlll function while should the locomotive be traveling in the opposite direction, the other of said members will function. Each of said members is formed with oppositely Fixed to inclined faces to coact with the rods 29 for depressing the rods so that, regardless of whether the locomotive is moving forwardly or backwardly, the signal will be actuated.

Accordingly, as will be seen, when the main The pawl rings 19 at the adjacent end of the drum 16 will accordingly be turned; so that the drum and signal wheels 14 will be correspondingly suddenly rotated for giving a Warning signal at the crossing. The wheels 14, inaddition to providing signal wheels, also provide flywheels at the ends of the shaft 13 so that after said I wheels have been set in motion, they will continue to, spin for a considerable length of time or until the train reaches the crossing. Upon the approach of a train from the opposite direction, the trip rod at the right of Figure 1 will be actuated and a corresponding pull exerted upon the strap 23 when the signal wheels will be rotated as before, and it is now to be observed that after'the rods 29 have the springs 31 will function to return the levers and tighten the cables 35 while the springs 25 will return the straps 22 and 23 for resetting the pawl rings 19. I accordingly provide a signal which will always be ready for operation.

Having thus described the what I claim is: Y

1. A railway crossing signal including a base, a rotatable signal shaft mounted thereon, a signalmember carried by the shaft, a drum fixed to the shaft, a pawl ring rotatable on the drum, pawls carried by said ring to coact with the drum, and means for rotating said ring and turning the shaft. 2. A railway crossing signal including a base, a rotatable signal shaft mounted thereon, a signal member carried by the shaft,

invention,

been depressed,

a d m fi d; o the shaft aw ring tatab e. n t e dr m, peri s a r ed. by Said ring to coac t with the drum, means for rotating said ring and turning the shaft, and meansfor counter-rotating and resetting thering.

3'. A railway crossing signal including a base, a rotatable, signal shaft mounted thereon, a signal member carried by said shaft, a drum fixed to the. shaft; ar d provided th: n tches, a. aw t ne rota a le. on the devi and pr id i pa ls tQJ eng in said notches, and means for rotating the ring and turning the sln ij't,

at. railway crossing signal including :1 ba a otatab ienal sha t ma med -s t on, a signal member carried by the. shaft, a drum fixed on said shaft and provided at one thereof with a race way and at its adjacent endedge with notches, a pawl n surrq ed e t e d um re a abl fitting in said raceway, pawls carried by the ring to e a e n. d n ches an in ens f rotating the ring and turning the shaft.

5. A railway crossing Slglgitl including a base, a rotatable signal shaft mounted thereon, a signal member earried the shaft,

a drum fiaed to th e shaft, a pawl ring rot'atable, on the drum and provided with pawls to coact with the drum, a. strap connected to said ring, trip mechanism connected with said strap, and operable to pull the strap in one direction and rotate said n or urn g t e. sh f n Spring connected to the strap and operable to, pull the strap in the opposite direction for counterrrotating and resetting the ring.

6. A railway crossing signal including a b e a ota ablei aele ha t me te h on, a s nal memb r ieemble b S d Shaft, a drum fixed to the shaft, and element loose on the drum and p govided with, means t0 gage s i dr f r ewtiee th d u and turning the, shaft.

n est m ny whereof I afiie m Signature. I

mans BENDEB- a, i 

